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Soon: Biden to Sign New Executive Orders; Schumer: Pelosi Will Deliver Impeachment Article to Senate Monday; Exclusive Look at Libya's Battlefields; Japan Determined to Hold Olympics Despite Cancellation Rumors. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 22, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:17]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To a nation waiting for action, let me be the clearest on this point -- help is on the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Tonight, a presidential promise to the millions in the U.S. whose lives have been ravaged by a virus that Joe Biden now
predicts will have killed a shocking number of Americans by next month.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): Remarkable satellite images obtained by CNN over the desert between Libya's
two dueling sides shows a huge physical obstacle to peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Just hours from a U.N. deadline ordering all foreign troops out of Libya, we show you the reality on the ground.
And this hour, we speak to Uganda's opposition leader who says he is still under house arrest after an election he claims was rigged.
(MUSIC)
ANDERSON: It is 10:00 a.m. in D.C., it's 5:00 p.m. in Tripoli, 6:00 p.m. in Kampala, 7:00 in the evening here in Abu Dhabi.
Hello and welcome. I'm Becky Anderson. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.
Joe Biden is using the power of the pen to punish through key policy points on his second full day as U.S. president. In the coming hours, he will sign
two executive orders, both aimed at helping Americans struggling through this pandemic. One of them moves to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour
for federal government workers and restore civil protections for them that were gutted by former President Donald Trump. The other aims to get more
money and enhanced food benefits to low-income families.
Now executive orders are the fastest way for a president to get things done. But Mr. Biden's larger goal, a $1.9 trillion relief package will need
support from Congress. And some Senate Republicans are already calling it a nonstarter. And for now, Senate leaders can't even agree on a power-sharing
plan in a chamber split 50-50, leaving Republicans technically in control of committees even though Democrats have the vice president's tie-breaking
vote.
Well, today's executive orders will follow about a dozen others that the president has already signed on the coronavirus. Part of what he is calling
a wartime effort to contain COVID-19. The hurdles remain huge. Nearly 4,000 more Americans died from the disease in the past day.
Mr. Biden says America's COVID death toll which topped 400,000 just before inauguration will likely reach a half a million next month. Now despite
those grim numbers, the president says better days are ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We will get through this. We will defeat this pandemic. And to a nation waiting for action, let me be the clearest on this point -- help is
on the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: But that help could take awhile. One of the biggest challenges facing the president's COVID team is fixing what is this flawed vaccine
rollout, which has seen too many people across America unable to even sign up for an appointment, much less get a jab in the arm.
Well, Dr. Anthony Fauci says that the president and his team can get those problems fixed and meet one of Mr. Biden's campaign promises, which was 100
million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office.
Earlier on CNN, the president's chief medical adviser said it's possible to even top that number.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: Obviously, you want to do as best as you possibly can. I'd like it to be a lot more. The
goal was set, but you don't want to get fixated on, was that an undershoot or overshoot. You go for 100 million over 100 days. If we do better than
that, which I personally think we likely will, then great.
I just don't want to get fixated, because I saw that yesterday, there was that back-and-forth between that. We're just going to go for it, for as
much as you possibly can. When you set a goal if you do better than the goal, that's terrific. I hope we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Dr. Fauci, though, made a stark admission. When asked if all the roadblocks to the coronavirus task force faced in the Trump administration
led to additional loss of life, have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:05:01]
FAUCI: You know, it very likely did. I don't want that, John, to be a sound bite, but I think if you just look at that, you can see that when you
are starting to go down paths that are not based on any science at all, and we've been there before. I don't want to rehash it. That is not helpful at
all, and particularly when you're in the situation of almost being in a crisis with the number of cases and hospitalizations and deaths that we
have. When you start talking about things that make no sense medically and no sense scientifically, that clearly is not helpful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's talk to Anthony Fauci.
Jeremy Diamond connecting all of these fast-moving developments for us from the White House.
And, Jeremy, the U.S. was promised that the Biden administration would get down to work immediately. It has been a busy few days. What can we expect
today, and what is the mood like at this new Biden White House?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a White House that's moving fast to try and show that they are acting on the two main
crises that are facing this country and this administration -- the health crisis and the economic crisis, both brought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Yesterday, we saw President Biden focusing on the health crisis, issuing ten executive orders on the pandemic and issuing his national strategy to
really ramp up the federal government's role in combating the virus nationwide. Today, we are seeing the president pivot his focus to the
economic crisis facing the country. The president is expected to issue a pair of executive orders. The first of which is going to focus on
increasing food assistance to Americans.
At this moment, while we have millions of Americans who are unemployed, there are an estimated more than 40 million Americans who are food
insecure. And so, you're going to see this executive order increase federal food assistance, increasing those SNAP benefits which are food stamps that
some Americans receive and also increasing the money that families whose children would otherwise receive free school lunch meals, but now that they
are doing school at home, it would increase the amount of money they're receiving to help feed their children.
The second executive order is going to focus on federal workers. And that is to start laying the groundwork to increase the federal minimum wage for
those federal workers and contractors that work for the federal government to $15 an hour, and also restoring some of those civil service protections
for those federal workers as well, restoring some of their collective bargaining rights and taking away something that President Trump had done,
which was to make it easier to fire some of these federal workers.
But ultimately, to be clear, Becky, the executive actions that we are seeing from this administration are just a small part of what they are
looking to do on the economy. And ultimately, it will come down to this $1.9 trillion relief package that President Biden is trying to get through
Congress. But that will be a very difficult task and something that's going to take weeks, if not months to get through Congress -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Jeremy, thank you for that.
Down the road on the Hill, in his new role as Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell pushing back hard against Joe Biden's agenda. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: On the Biden administration's very first day it took several big steps in the wrong
direction. There's still plenty of time for President Biden to remember that he does not owe his election to the far left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, McConnell's comments are a stark reminder that despite Biden's repeated calls for unity, the political polarization that has
defined U.S. politics for more than a decade is alive and well.
Scott Jennings served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and is a CNN conservative commentator. He says although Biden talks like a
centrist, he acts like a liberal.
What do you mean by that, sir?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, he ran his campaign sort of presenting himself as a moderate Democrat, as someone who
wouldn't give in to the progressive left. And in this particular case if you look at his day one executive orders, he's doing things that are
pleasing only to the progressive left flank of his party.
And so, right now, in Washington, we have relative equilibrium. It's a 50- 50 Senate, slight majority for the Democrats in the House and Biden in the White House. A slight lead to the Democrats. That tells me the voters want
a president and the Republicans to work together and meet in the middle somewhere. And a lot of Republicans don't think his executive actions meet
that mandate.
ANDERSON: Scott, with respect, what Joe Biden is doing is signing executive orders which are going to help Americans out from what is an
awfully desperate situation that they are in and by labeling that as a leftist policy, surely you sort of -- conservative sort of analysts and
lawmakers are ignoring the fact that millions and millions of Americans are in trouble.
[10:10:05]
And as Joe Biden suggested, this is -- this is sort of wartime policy at this point. Do you not agree that it is this sort of policy that is needed
out of the gate to ensure that Americans feel that they have a president who cares?
JENNINGS: Well, I think it depends on which action you're talking about. I mean, I think Americans need jobs. And one of the first things he did was
kill the Keystone XL pipeline which is thousands of jobs in both the United States and Canada. In fact, they are union jobs.
And so, if you are interested in putting people back to work, why are you signing executive orders that take jobs away from unions that want to put
their people back to work?
So, it's just one example of where I think Republicans think it was an unnecessary giveaway to the fringe left when you could have left that
project in place.
ANDERSON: Let's have a listen to Kevin McCarthy and Lindsey Graham, two Republicans, of course, going up against themselves as it were. Have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.
REPORTER: Do you believe that President -- former President Trump provoked?
MCCARTHY: I don't believe he provoked if you listen to what he said at the rally.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): But today, first thing you'll see, all I can say is, count me out. Enough is enough.
The people who defiled the Capitol, they did that. Not me. Not Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Joe Biden is calling for unity. He needs bipartisan support for his policy out of the gate on COVID. You've talked about the Keystone
Project. I was specifically talking more about these executive orders, raising the minimum wage and offering low-income families an opportunity to
feed their kids. So, he's asking for unity and bipartisan support in congress, and Republican Party itself doesn't seem to be united.
What's your read on whether the Republican Party is post this election, sir?
JENNINGS: Well, the word "unity" depends on how you define it. If unity is you have to agree with me or we're casting you out of the policy-making
process, well, that's not actually unity. To me and I think to most Republicans what unity means is we can support the new president in the
legitimacy of the new president, although some in my party haven't done that, and that's frankly a disgrace. But it also means we have to be loyal
to each other and that means understanding the relative equilibrium in Washington and meeting in the middle on some of these policies.
But I think to the Democrats, when they say unity, they mean agree with us, do not dissent, do not expect any compromise and if you do any of those
things, we're going to cast you as an enemy of the state. And that's just not what unity means to most Republicans.
Look, I think there's a way for the parties to work together, and I think they will. I think some of this early posturing is expected when a new
administration takes over. I think Joe Biden has some goodwill in Washington for what he wants to do. My expectation is they will pass some
bipartisan legislation, even if we have a little political tug-of-war before it happens.
ANDERSON: Right. We're going to stop you there. It's always a pleasure having you on. Chuck Schumer is speaking on the Hill. Let's listen in.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: -- agreed on a set of rules to govern a 50-50 Senate. We should follow that precedent. We have offered to
abide by the same agreement the last time there was a 50-50 Senate. What's fair is fair. That is precedent.
We could organize the Senate today if both sides agreed to abide by the same rules as last time. The Republican leader, however, has made an
extraneous demand that would place additional constraints on the majority, constraints that have never been in place before. In fact, his proposal
would remove a tool that the Republican leader himself used twice in just the last Congress to accelerate the confirmation of Republican nominees.
Leader McConnell's proposal is unacceptable, and it won't be accepted. And the Republican leader knew that when he first proposed it.
Only two days ago, Mr. President, we celebrated the inauguration of a new president and the turning over of a new leaf. The American people want us
to work together and move past the meaningless political fights and gridlock that have plagued us for too long.
It's time to get to work. The first step is for the Republican caucus to agree to follow the same precedent that governed the Senate last time
around. I yield the floor.
[10:15:05]
MCCONNELL: Mr. President?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republican leader?
MCCONNELL: Yesterday, we learned that some of the National Guard forces who have been helping protect the capitol complex were being made to rest
in parking garages between their shifts. I don't think a single senator feels that was acceptable. I'm glad the situation was resolved, and I hope
we learn exactly what happened.
In that regard, I want to thank all the National Guard, including more than 300 Kentucky guardsmen and local and federal law enforcement who have
helped supplement our very own capitol police in the wake of January the 6th.
Your Congress and your country appreciate all you have done to secure the Capitol and the inauguration.
Later today, I'll have the honor of meeting a number of my Kentuckians who have been helping out here at the Capitol. It's going to be the highlight
of my day.
In the near future, Congress needs to smartly transition toward a more sustainable security presence, keeping the Capitol safe cannot and will not
require huge numbers of uniformed troops and vast systems of emergency fencing to remain in place forever.
With the inauguration behind us, we should find the right middle ground between the unacceptable lapses three weeks ago and the extraordinarily
short-term measures that have been put in place since that time. In the meantime, we need to make darn sure that we look after the men and women
who look after us.
On a totally different matter, while business proceeds on the floor of the Democratic leader and I continue to flesh out the structure of this 50-50
Senate, when Leaders Lott and Daschle wrote a similar agreement 20 years ago, there wasn't a need at all to reaffirm the basic standing rule that
governed legislation here in the Senate. It was safely assumed that no majority would break this rule for short-term gain.
Floor remarks surrounding those 2001 discussions specifically cite the legislative filibuster as an important and unquestioned part of the
backdrop that lay beneath the negotiations on the finer details. It was assumed no one would ever take that step.
After the fact, Leader Daschle, the Democrat, praised the legislative filibuster as a crucial rule. President Biden has praised this distinctive
feature of the Senate on many occasions.
Our current Democratic colleagues used it liberally -- liberally over the last several years when they were in the minority. More than two dozen
signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our Republican majority should not break the rule by brute force.
Let me say that again. Two dozen Democrats signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our Republican majority should not break this rule by brute
force.
I agreed. I didn't do it. President Trump was not happy with that. He tweeted against me numerous times because I didn't do -- put an end to the
legislative filibuster.
And so the Democrats used it constantly as they had every right to. They were happy to insist on a 60-vote threshold for practically every major
bill I took up. So we'll continue to request that our Democratic colleagues reaffirm this standing rule of the Senate which they have been happy to use
on many occasions I can attest. If we're going to truly replicate the 2001 agreement, we need to reaffirm this crucial part of the foundation that lay
beneath it.
Yesterday, I also shared a proposal for the pretrial steps in the Senate impeachment process that appears to be headed our way. And as I understand
it might be headed our way Monday.
By Senate rules, if the article arrives, we have to start a trial right then. This impeachment began with an unprecedentedly fast and minimal
process over in the House. The sequel cannot be an insufficient Senate process that denies former President Trump his due process or damages the
Senate or the presidency itself.
Senate Republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense and the Senate can properly
consider the factual legal and constitutional questions at stake.
For that reason, we suggest the House transmit this article next Thursday. But that's apparently going to be next Monday. That former President
Trump's answer and the house pretrial brief, I suggested, be due on February 4th.
[10:20:06]
And the former president's pretrial brief be due, I suggested, on February the 11th. That timeline would have provided the Senate some more floor time
before we step up fully into the unknown of a trial, which, by the way, would have been a substantial benefit to the incoming administration, and
allowed them to get more of their cabinet confirmed, which we are cooperating as best we can to expedite.
So, finally, Mr. President, on one final matter, regarding those nominees, we're considering to -- President Biden's nominees for key cabinet posts on
Wednesday, Avril Haines was confirmed on a big bipartisan vote, including my own. We hope to be able to consider Tony Blinken to be secretary of
state early next week. Today, we're considering General Lloyd Austin, President Bush -- Biden's nominee to be served as secretary of defense.
I voted to approve the waiver that would allow him to serve on this post yesterday, notwithstanding the seven-year cooling off period after military
service. And I'll be voting in favor of his confirmation.
I'm voting yes because the nominee is clearly clarified and because a president should get real latitude to fill terms (ph) with qualified
mainstream people of their choosing. At the same time, the Senate should pause and reflect on the fact that we'll have begun two consecutive
presidential administrations by issuing a waiver to a four-star general and former CentCom commander to lead the Pentagon.
The Armed Services Committee held a hearing last week to examine the waiver and the current state of civil military relations at the Pentagon. I expect
the committee will continue to pay close attention to this important issue in the month ahead, and will investigate steps the Congress can take to
restore balance over at the Pentagon.
The law that we keep waving actually exists for good reason. Civilian control of the military is a fundamental principle of our republic. We
emphatically do not want high-ranking military service to become a tacit prerequisite for civilian leadership posts over at the Department of
Defense. It's not just about a simplistic fear that the military will end up running itself. To the contrary, many experts worry that military
leaders appropriate on being nonpolitical may not prepare them for the job to forcefully fight for armed services amid the political rough and tumble
in the executive branch and here in Congress.
Put another way, they are taught from the beginning to stay out of politics entirely, but you do want a secretary of defense that is willing to engage
in the issue-based discussions that we have related to the department. So nevertheless, I'll vote today to confirm a clear patriot with an impressive
career, but I'll cast that vote with the understanding that our new secretary of defense specifically commits to balancing the civil military
relations empowering civilian leaders at the Pentagon and playing an active role in the inherently political budget process to get our forces what they
need.
Our intensifying competition with China and Russia and all the other threats we face demand nothing less.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. And under the previous order, the
Senate will proceed to the executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report.
SENATE CLERK: Nomination.
ANDERSON: There you have it. You've been listening to Mitch McConnell. Ahead of that, the new majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, of the
Democrats who announced that the impeachment article will be delivered to the Senate on Monday, earlier than the Republican Senator Mitch McConnell
would have liked.
Scott Jennings is still with us. Scott, let's just talk impeachment before we move on and discuss some of the other things that we just heard there.
So the impeachment article will be delivered Monday.
What happens next, sir?
JENNINGS: Well, under the rules of the Senate, they have to begin the trial immediately. So it becomes the business of the Senate. And typically
what happens is the Senate would meet and agree on the procedures that they're going to use for this particular trial. It's what they did in
Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.
This time, it's a little unclear how that's going to work because the Democrats are in control of the chamber now. Last time it was the
Republicans. But basically, once the articles come over, the trial starts.
[10:25:02]
And then depending on the rules they set up, you know, we'll see an impeachment trial over the next few weeks.
ANDERSON: Question is this, isn't it, will the Democrats succeed in getting 17 Republicans to vote to convict? Is that likely at this point?
Clearly, as we have been reporting, should Mitch McConnell decide to vote to convict? That might help the Democrats drag the other Republican
senators that they need with him.
To your mind, what will happen at this point? Read the tea leaves for us.
JENNINGS: Yeah, sure. I think that it's a long road to get to 17 Republicans. I think there will be more Republican votes on this one than
on the last one. Last time it was only Mitt Romney. This time, I think there's certainly more than one, but to get to 17 is hard -- although not
impossible. And given what Donald Trump did and the role he played in all of this, certainly the Democrats have a fairly simple case to make.
And, obviously, as you mentioned, Mitch McConnell is none too pleased about what happened at the Capitol. I think the president has some work to do in
putting up a defense. And they have to be very careful because Trump, so far, has shown no contrition and taken no responsibility for what he's
done. And I just don't think most people see it that way.
ANDERSON: Fascinating.
Scott, it's a pleasure having you on, sir. Thank you. And thank you for holding on as we listened in to what was going on, on the floor this news
out of the states is so important.
And not just to Americans, to those of us watching around the world. What goes on in America, of course, doesn't stay in the states. Thank you, sir.
JENNINGS: Thanks.
ANDERSON: But I want to look at Libya now, a place where Mr. Biden's nomination for secretary of state told a Senate hearing that Washington
made some misjudgments in its role in that intervention. Now almost ten years later, we are still seeing the attempts to unwind what has followed.
Now the United Nations deadline for all foreign forces to be out of Libya hits tomorrow, in less than 24 hours from now. However, the exact opposite,
it seems, is happening. Those foreign forces are literally digging in.
These are exclusive satellite pictures of a trench being dug to separate the eastern and western-backed leaders there.
Nick Paton Walsh is following the story and he joins us now live from London -- Nick.
WALSH: Becky, this is very much about how the Middle East has changed since the Trump administration was significantly less invested in the
world. President Biden now inherits.
Two key players in the region as the U.S. withdrew his footprint, Turkey and Russia. They are supporting two opposite sides here, separated as you
saw there by this lengthy trench and fortification. Not always entirely joined up but significant and visible which makes for a big obstacle which
hoped to run Libya for elections at the end of the year. Here's what we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): This was meant to be when peace got real, when a U.N. deal pushed foreign forces in Libya to leave and a stalemate conflict
between east and west got closer to settlement.
But remarkable satellite images obtained by CNN over the desert between Libya's two dueling sides shows a huge physical obstacle to peace. This
trench and fortifications like these spanning dozens of kilometers, dug, a U.S. intelligence official says, by Russian-backed mercenaries, the Wagner
Group, boosting Russian influence around these front lines in Libya where they have their largest presence globally, the official said.
Russia did not respond to our request for comment and denies links to fighters there. Images show the trenches still being dug this month.
Officials with the government in Tripoli said --
CLAUDIA GAZZINI, CONSULTING ANALYST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: It's about 17 kilometers long. It indicates, obviously, that those helping build
up these fortifications do not intend to leave that area and are placing themselves to guard this oil-rich area of Libya.
WALSH: The trench seems to split the populated part of Libya on the coast in two. The west controlled by the government backed by Turkey who are
openly training their military, and the east's forces backed by Russia and the Emirates are led by General Khalifa Haftar whose officials said the
trench was temporary and denied the presence of mercenaries.
Since the fall of Gadhafi nearly ten years ago, Libya has been plagued by infighting. ISIS and chaos in its vital oil sector.
This Saturday is when a U.N. peace deal said all foreign forces should leave.
[10:30:01]
But a U.S. intelligence official told CNN that clearly isn't happening with both sides, quote, settling in for the long haul, and an exceptionally long
year ahead. Russia's long-term plan is unclear.
GAZZINI: Whether they are set on entrenching themselves and consolidating their leverage in Libya or whether Moscow might be willing to use Libya as
a channel of communication with the Biden administration.
WALSH: The crisis both old and new for President Biden right on Europe's southern border with familiar adversaries and risks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (on camera): Now, there are some analysts who say that Russia may not have its long full game worked out here. And the big assets to Wagner
mercenaries is that disposability. The fact they can be dropped if Moscow loses interest and even suggestion from American officials that the
Emiratis may be helping pay some of that mercenary bill.
I should say Russia denies its presence there at all, but it is remarkable, Becky, to see simply how the facts physically on the ground there have
changed over the past years and the new world that President Biden inherits -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Nick, thank you very much. Nick Paton Walsh on the story.
We'll take a very short break at this point. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ANDERSON: Well, more now on our breaking news. Just moments ago, we learned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now expected to deliver the
article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday. A Senate trial would begin the next day.
Well, meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden expected to continue his streak of executive orders by signing two more today, both focused on economic
recovery from the pandemic. The first designed to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal workers and the other will expand assistance to
Americans in need of food or out of work. Mr. Biden has a big hill to climb.
Some QAnon supporters were also among those storming the capitol just a couple of weeks ago. Now many believers watched their conspiracy theories
unravel as Joe Biden was sworn into office.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIDEN: The Constitution of the United States.
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: So help you God?
BIDEN: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
(APPLAUSE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: The election was stolen. Biden would never become president. Trump would round up the so-called deep state
in a reckoning.
[10:35:00]
It was all part of conspiracy theories like QAnon that many Trump supporters bought into.
How are you going to feel when Biden is inaugurated at noon today?
WILLIAM WIETING, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I knew you are going to ask me that. I don't believe -- this sound so crazy, and I recognize how crazy this
sounds, and I don't believe Joe Biden is going to be sworn in as president today.
O'SULLIVAN: We met Trump supporter William Wieting here in Washington early on the morning of the inauguration. He says he's not a QAnon
believer, but he does espouse some of its theories.
The martial law thing is sort of a baseless conspiracy theory, no?
WIETING: Well, you want -- everyone wants to tag facts as conspiracy theory. So it's just the way of discounting facts.
O'SULLIVAN: But if he doesn't declare martial law, would that prove by this time tomorrow, that it was a conspiracy theory?
WIETING: No, if he doesn't declare martial law then I'll feel like my vote no longer counts in the United States, and that's not a good thing.
O'SULLIVAN: Wieting and many other Trump supporters are living in a world of conspiracy theories. As a result of Joe Biden's presidency set in, some
QAnon forums were filled with people coming to the realization that they had been duped.
TRAVIS VIEW, CO-HOST, QANON ANONYMOUS PODCAST: There are a lot of QAnon followers feel very angry and disillusioned as they realized they've been
misled. But there are also many people who are still doubling down, still trusting the plan, still thinking that something very dramatic is going to
happen.
WIETING: Joe Biden was just sworn in about 15 minutes ago.
O'SULLIVAN: So I met you right here.
WIETING: Right here in the dark last night.
O'SULLIVAN: Last night. It was about 3:00 am. You're out here streaming live on YouTube. Do you feel you've been duped, that you've been tricked,
that you've been fooled in some way here?
WIETING: Actually, no. The way I felt, I was waiting up until the minute he said, I, Joe Biden. I'm watching him walk up. I'm thinking, my life is
about to completely change because I've been saying I'm either a conspiracy theorist or I'm a prophet, you know, kind of like kind of Christian humor.
I'm not a prophet.
But I was just kind of in shock and I thought -- I had to re-evaluate everything, the way my life was going to be now because it's so different
than I -- my expectations. And I literally was walking around like, what now?
O'SULLIVAN: Where are QAnon followers going now? What is next?
VIEW: So, some QAnon followers probably a minority, will give up on QAnon and fall away. Still others will stick to the plan, believe that there's
some sort of great dramatic revolution that's going to happen at any second.
Still, others will probably be recruited into even more dangerous and more militant extremist movements.
O'SULLIVAN: It's not as if all of this is going away, not if Biden is president.
VIEW: No, I'm afraid not.
O'SULLIVAN: You think maybe with Joe Biden being sworn in, you might be wrong about the whole election rigging thing?
WIETING: No, I'm convinced the election was a fraud.
O'SULLIVAN: So, as you can see there, he was able to accept he'd fallen for a conspiracy theory at least in some way, about the inauguration, but
was unwilling to accept to realize that he had been duped about how the election was stolen.
And I think that really highlights the challenge going forward. You know, just because Biden is inaugurated doesn't mean that the challenges and
problems of online misinformation is going away. And it's going to be a major challenge, I think, for the Biden administration and for Silicon
Valley and for all of us to address in the years to come.
Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: There's a lot to go over here. So, I want to bring in U.S. lawmaker and member of the House Committee on Intelligence, Andre Carson
who joins us now via Skype from Washington, D.C.
Sir, great to have you on.
Let's be really practical here. How does the American president, the new American president, Joe Biden, and you as a lawmaker, convince those that
Donie was talking to in that report who believe they have been duped, that you care about them and their families? How -- how do you go about
convincing them of that?
REP. ANDRE CARSON (D-IN): Well, I think people have to be clear and temper their expectations as it relates to any political leader. A political
leader isn't your mom, isn't your dad, and certainly isn't your messiah. A political leader is there to represent your interest and your taxpayer
dollars, and to be a good steward or trustee.
And so, I think people have to have reasonable expectations of political leaders because any time you place all of your hopes, dreams and
aspirations on an individual organization, you are setting yourself up for failure.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
You sit on the House Intelligence Committee -- sir, with respect, it seems clear that there was a massive failure in intelligence. To understand the
extent of the impact of these conspiracy theories, these sites, mostly online and helped to fuel the insurrection.
[10:40:03]
What are you doing to fix that?
CARSON: Well, what I will say is we plan to have a series of hearings as a chairman of the subcommittee on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and
counterproliferation. Misinformation is a critical part of disruption.
These are old espionage techniques. These are techniques that as well been used by state actors and non-state actors. But it's something we have to
look into especially to the regard in which U.S. citizens have been a part of this misinformation campaign to divide communities, particularly black
and brown communities.
ANDERSON: I've listened to the heads of the big tech companies from Silicon Valley appear in front of lawmakers now a number of times, and
certainly the feedback I get from many of our viewers and experts in the field is that U.S. lawmakers seem ill-equipped to actually understand the
workings of these big tech companies which, therefore, hampers them in their efforts to really do anything about these organizations that might
help prevent the sort of proliferation of conspiracy theory that we have seen online.
Do you agree?
CARSON: I think that is an overestimation and an underestimation of lawmakers' intelligence.
I encourage my friends in big tech to come to Capitol Hill and brief members of Congress, brief us (AUDIO GAP). Allow us to have a better
understanding of their positions.
But they have to also understand that we're there as lawmakers. We're there to set policy and regulations. But it's important that they build these
relationships.
They should not approach and critique from a distance. They have to understand that lawmakers are human beings, and lawmakers in a very real
sense have to be generalists.
And so, as it relates to the specificity of their field, it's incumbent upon them to build these relationships with lawmakers.
ANDERSON: With that, we'll leave it there, sir. You are only the second Muslim to be elected to Congress, and I want to have you back to discuss
the overturning of the Muslim ban and what that means practically for many people around the world who will be watching this show.
So we'll have you back, I hope you concede to joining us. Thank you for joining us today on some very specific points.
Still ahead on this show, Japan dismissing reports that the Tokyo Olympic Games will be canceled. That after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, just hours ago, there were reports suggesting that the already delayed Tokyo Olympics would be scrapped entirely. The games, of
course, were originally scheduled for July and August of 2020 but were pushed back 12 months due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
[10:45:07]
Don Riddell is in the house.
And -- you look like an Olympic athlete, but I didn't think you actually competed. You're here to clear up some of the confusion. What's going on?
DON RIDDELL, HOST, WORLD SPORT: Well, "The Times of London" first reported this about 14 hours ago and sent, I would imagine, athletes all over the
world and certainly sports journalists and people covering the games into a bit of a tizzy. The Japanese government says the games are on. The IOC
saying the games are on, but there is no doubt this is a very confusing time.
And, frankly, a worrying time for anyone invested in the games. Remember, some 10,000 athletes have already been inconvenienced. They've had to wait
since last summer. They are hoping to go in July. It remains to be seen. But the official word is the games are on right now.
ANDERSON: Yeah, all right.
Don Riddell has "World Sport" after this short break. We're back after that. Stay with us.
(WORLD SPORT)
ANDERSON: Sometimes that's the way it is. We will keep up the sports theme as we discuss the potential for delaying or canceling the Olympics in the
next hour. Thank you, sir.
We are back with CONNECT THE WORLD after this.
END
